Demon of the Sea
by mooseman3
Summary: Zabuza Momochi was famed as The Demon of the Bloody Mist. So how will he react to being sent to a world that has no idea who he his.


**Greetings to you all, before anything else I'd just like to say that this story was originally written by a friend of mine FanboyX. However, through circumstances well beyond his own he is no longer able to write it. So here I am. It's not the exact same as the one he had, his was set in Fire Emblem while mine is set in One Piece. But that's enough of me let's get started.**

 **XXX**

Zabuza Momochi could feel himself getting weaker, the cold stone of the bridge was pressed against his cheek as he lay against it with countless weapons buried into his back. He took some solace with the fact that Gato, the man who had tried to betray him at the last second, was currently sleeping at the bottom of the river.

The sound of far off cheering caught his attention and despite his best efforts Zabuza couldn't find the strength to raise his head and watch the celebrations. However; a much closer sound of sandals on stone made its way over to where he was, stopping just in front of him.

"Sounds like it's over." His voice was barely above a whisper as he strained to speak.

"Yeah..." The voice which belonged to Kakashi Hatake held its own weight as the Konoha ninja stared down at the once mighty missing-nin.

"Kakashi... I have a favour to ask."

"What is it." The response was practically immediate. _'So willing to help the man that was once his enemy, if only I...'_ Zabuza mentally shook his head. _'It's too late for that now.'_

"Take me to him. Before I go I need to see him one last... time."

There was silence for a few moments, long enough for Zabuza to think the worst, but he almost smiled when Kakashi answered. "Sure."

He couldn't feel the weapons getting pulled from his back, but the sound of wood clattering to the ground and steel hitting stone was enough to let him know it was happening. When the last one was pulled Zabuza was rolled onto his back, picked up by Kakashi and carried over to his destination. On the way over Zabuza felt the cold touch of snow against his cheek and saw snow falling from the sky.

 _'Is that you Haku? Are you weeping?'_ Zabuza couldn't hear the sounds of cheering anymore, as if everyone had stopped to watch what was now taking place. After what felt like an eternity Kakashi had made his way over to where Haku was and gently placed Zabuza beside him.

"Thank you... Kakashi." Wordlessly, Kakashi backed away from the two and over to where his student stood. Even in death Haku had such a peaceful look on his face; no scowl, no pain, just serenity. If he didn't know any better than he would thought that Haku was only sleeping, yet no matter how much he prayed for the opposite Haku remained cold and motionless.

"You were always at my side. The least I can do... is be beside you... at the end."

Slowly Zabuza raised his hand, fingers trembling as he touched the porcelain skin of his one true friend. "I know it cannot be but... I wish I could go to where you have gone... how I wish I could... join you there. Haku..."

With the last of his strength fading and his world turning to black Zabuza took one last look at Haku and closed his eyes. With one last breath Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist, one of the fabled Seven Swordsmen died.

 **XXX**

He sat upright with a sudden intake of breath. The pain that had once wracked his body was gone and in its place, was a feeling of warmth. He spun his head around and saw that he was surrounded by flowers; some were white, others were black, some were taller than him, while most only reached his knee. Without wasting another second Zabuza sprang to his feet and instinctively reached for Kubikiribocho on his back, only to grasp at air.

 _'What's going on? I was in the Land of Waves and I... I should be... dead. Yet here I am, standing in the middle of a flower garden.'_

He could feel his breathing rapidly increase on its own, his heartbeat not too far behind. His eyes scanned everything around him trying to pick out something to give him an idea of where he was. He even tried gathering his chakra to break any sort of genjutsu this might have been, only to feel a shocking emptiness in place of his chakra.

 _'My chakra...What the hell is going on?'_

After a few more seconds of silent panic Zabuza was able catch his breath and slow his heartbeat.

 _'Not a genjutsu and nowhere I'm familiar with, then...'_ A grin stretched across his face as a bitter laugh escaped his throat. _'I thought hell would look a lot worse than this.'_

"Well, you're not entirely wrong."

He spun, faster than most could blink, at the sound of someone's' voice. For someone to be able to sneak up on him without being detected was inexcusable. He had lowered his guard and now he was forced to play on the defensive, play around this mans' strategy and wait for an opening-

Any other thought about defending himself was immediately knocked out of his head when he caught sight of the man responsible for his surprise. White tube socks pulled as high as possible with old sandals strapped to his feet. Small tan shorts stopped just above his knees and was accompanied by a yellow polo shirt covered in grass stains. One arm tucked behind his back while the other held a whale shaped watering can, on his head sat a pink bucket hat with a bumble bee button. His eyes were covered by sunglasses and yet the strangest part about this man was his smile, so warm and welcoming despite there being no familiarity between the two.

 _'He's... just an old man, I can't feel anything from him. A civilian then... and yet he was able to catch me off guard. Just who the hell is this man?'_

The old man chuckled sheepishly before scratching the back of his neck. "Didn't mean to scare you son, just thought I should say a quick hello before you wandered off somewhere."

Zabuza's eyes narrowed at the mans' attitude. "Tell me who you are and where I am now."

The old man threw his head back and laughed at the threat causing Zabuza's eyes to narrow further as a growl escaped his throat. The old man caught sight of this and coughed into his fist before waving off the swordsman. "Don't take any offense son, just an old man laughing at an old memory. Now the second part of your question is pretty easy to answer, so let's answer that one first."

While he was talking the old man started walking between the flowers watering them in random order, some more than others, some not at all. "See when people die they are sent to an afterlife equivalent to how they were in life. The kindhearted are rewarded while the corrupted are punished, simple yes? This is where it gets tricky, if you are neither truly corrupt nor truly kindhearted you are sent to a land of silence, no memories, no color and of course not a single sound."

Zabuza felt his eye twitch. "I know the stories old man; heaven, hell, and limbo. This doesn't exactly look like any of them." Once again, the old man waved off Zabuza. "You really need to learn some patience son. See by all rights you should be in limbo right now, not corrupted enough for hell yet not nearly kind enough for heaven, but you are different. So, I brought you here."

"And where exactly is _here_?" Zabuza could feel his teeth grind together at the responses this old man was giving him.

His answer came in the form of a smile. "Why my garden of course."

You could hear his temper snap as Zabuza marched toward the old man. "I've had enough of your damn attitude old timer. Now give me a straight answer and tell me who the hell you are!"

They were inches apart, Zabuza stood a good few feet taller than the man and stared down into the black of his sunglasses, and saw his own glare staring back at him. There wasn't a single sound in the garden as the two stared at each other, the smile was still firmly in place on the face of the old gardener never faltering once during the stare down.

After a few more seconds the old man slowly raised his hand and Zabuza felt his muscles tense, waiting for a strike that never came. Instead the old man removed his sunglasses and suddenly everything was still. There was nothing; no iris', no pupils, not even an actual eyeball. Instead, there were two empty sockets. Pure black, as if windows to a bottomless abyss. He could feel himself being pulled in, unable to turn his head or move his feet. The pull was too strong, too compelling to do anything another than give in.

In seconds the sunglasses were back and Zabuza stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet and landing squarely on his backside. The old man, once dwarfed by the missing-nin, now stood like a mountain among men. "I am the creator; the one who shaped the worlds, the one who breathed life into the creatures of the world, I am the father to all who walk, to all who swim, to all who fly, I am-" At this he raised the raised the watering can. "-A gardener."

Zabuza swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. "You...You're-" "A gardener, let's just leave it at that, hm?"

The gardener turned back to his flowers and once again started to water them in his strange pattern. While this was happening Zabuza found that while his mouth opened to speak no words came out. _'This old man, there's no way he can be... I mean how is it-'_

"Come now it can't be that hard to believe can it? I might be lacking in the facial hair department but I like to think that there's more to a man than the size of his beard."

Zabuza's eyes widened. "Did you just-" "Read your thoughts? It's not that special, it would be hard to listen to my children if I couldn't do that. But I'm afraid that we're going off topic. You are an interesting one Zabuza Momochi; a missing-nin who wore the title Demon of The Bloody Mist, killing for coin no matter the customer or the target, truly a terrifying man. yet your last act was so full of regret, so full of compassion that it most who knew your name would call such a story fiction."

The gardener walked toward Zabuza and offered him a callous covered hand. Hesitantly the hand was taken and Zabuza once again stood at his full height. The gardener then moved behind Zabuza and stood in front of three small flowers. One was bright orange with specks of blonde, the one on the right of it was black with red dots on its leaves. Beside that one was a pink flower, the plainest of them all.

"They will struggle to grow, they will fight parasites, stand against the weather and even fight each other. But they will survive and they will stand tall. Because of you."

They old man poured a large amount of water over each flower before once again facing the missing-nin.

"Every world needs a shepherd, someone to guide it forward and into a new age. It's not an easy job more often than not it's thankless but it is necessary."

"Every world?"

The old man chuckled. "But of course. There are as many worlds as there are stars in the sky and each one is as different as a snowflake."

Zabuza's felt his fist clench as the words crawled out of his mouth. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Sometimes the shepherd needs a little help, sometimes it's a small push other times a big pull. Whatever the case may be the future of each world is always clear to me. However, the future of one world has become clouded and I fear for all who live there. I'd like you to aid the shepherd of this world and ensure its future is unharmed."

His other fist tightened and his eyes narrowed. "And why should I help? You said it yourself I deserve limbo, I'd argue I don't even deserve that."

For the first time the old mans' smile shrank and his face softened, it was a look Zabuza never thought he'd see, pity. "Your last wish, I'd like to make it come true."

Zabuza sucked in his last breath as the words ran through his mind. Words that should have been easy to speak were instead hard to find, after a few moments of stunned silence Zabuza was finally able to find his voice. "Why? Why would you even consider something like that?"

"Because you are my son, and I believe that there is something great inside you." The response was quicker than he had expected and carried more emotion than he thought possible.

"Make no mistake, this is not an act of charity. You will aid the shepherd of this world in any way you see fit. Every action you make must be your own. Should you choose to repeat the actions of your previous life then so be it. You must walk your own path, not the one you believe you must walk. Otherwise there will be no salvation."

After hearing the lengthy explanation Zabuza released a breath he had unconsciously been holding in. He didn't have to agree, he could rest and accept his fate. Yet something, _someone,_ kept him from refusing. _'Haku...'_

"Fine, I'll accept your offer. And I'll do it my way."

The smile was back on the old mans' face in full force. "Excellent, I was hoping you'd agree."

Before anything else could be said the sound of a bell rang throughout the field, followed closely by a strong wind blowing through the flowers.

"So, all I need to do is help this shepherd of this world?"

The old man nodded and folded both arms behind his back. "One last thing Zabuza, do try to keep this meeting between the two of us. We don't need to make things overly complicated wouldn't you agree?"

Before he could respond Zabuza's sight was completely overtaken and he vanished from the sight of the gardener. The old man stared at the spot he stood for a few seconds tenderly smiling at the area. _'That boy will do fine I'm sure of it. He'll make an excellent teacher and an irreplaceable friend.'_

As he was turning away the old man suddenly froze, his mouth dropped and his eyes went wide as he turned to look at the spot where Zabuza Momochi once was. It was such an oversight, one he had never imagined making and yet here he was.

"I forgot to give him the information about this world!"

He stood there perfectly still for hours trying to figure out when exactly he had forgotten such an important detail before closing his mouth and offering himself nothing more than a shrug.

"Meh, I'm sure he'll figure it out."

 **XXX**

 **Alright, so, I know what some of you are thinking. '** _ **Maybe you should finish a story before writing a new one**_ **.' And I will admit that is pretty good way of looking at things. However, I have devised a formula for myself which will keep me updating despite my terrible track record. I will be working on 4 stories at a time, this way I'm not burning myself out trying to finish all my other stories at once and if I happen to get a case of writer's block for one story I have 3 others as backup. Now this story is the 3** **rd** **one I'll be working on. The other two are on my profile while the 4** **th** **has yet to be decided. But that's for later, for now please tell me what you thought, it's the 1** **st** **chapter so it's shorter than future chapters (which will be between 3-4k long, maybe longer) and I hope to see you next time.**


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